As COVID numbers are on the uptick again in Delaware, there is no immediate call from state officials to add more restrictions.
"We're hopeful that this is just a little bump in the road," said Gov. John Carney about new COVID case numbers rising to an average of 370 per day and the 7-day average of positive tests hitting 6.2%.
Hospitalizations are also up to 163 from 99 just early last month. State officials point to the Easter holiday helping with those numbers rising, but say there aren’t any other obvious factors contributing to the rise.
Carney does want everyone to stay vigilant to keep the hospitalizations down.
"We want to flatten that out, and we need everybody's help to do that," said Carney. "Be conscious of avoiding gatherings and wear your mask when you're in public. Don't mix households just be conscious of your exposure to others who might be carrying the virus. Remember that you don't have to have symptoms to be carrying the virus."
He also notes with the state vaccinating at greater rates and protecting the 65 and older population significantly with vaccinations Delaware should be okay.
Meanwhile, Delaware has a plan to distribute the Johnson & Johnson vaccine again, if it’s use is permitted to resume.
That decision could come as early as the end of this week,
The state still has more than 4,800 J&J doses ready to administer when it is cleared for usage.
The CDC and FDA recommended a pause in use after 6 women developed blood clots out of the over 7-million doses administered.
Delaware Emergency Management Agency director A.J. Schall says adding it back to the state’s vaccination plans will not be immediate.
"If the green light is given, it will be utilized next week at our last weekend at Dover International Speedway," said Schall. "There's no reason to rush into it this weekend. We know there's going to be questions. There's going to be concerns people might have. So we want to make sure we have the education, any literature, anything else we need to absorb and really filter it out to the staff. We have time to do that in a proactive way and do it the right way."
Carney notes the advantage of administering the one-time Johnson & Johnson vaccine at Dover International Speedway is there is no need to schedule a second shot elsewhere in the state. That’s an issue since the Speedway will not be available for at least part of May when it hosts a NASCAR weekend.
Overall, the state has administered almost 651,000 vaccines, with over 234,000 being fully vaccinated as of April 20.
